How do ship photos work?

[pringle]

Pardon me if these are dumb questions. When you buy the ship photos, do you get the negatives or can you purchase them separately? Will they give you a release to copy? I'm thinking of using them as holiday cards.

 

Roughly how frequent and how many venues do they have the ship photographers?

 

Also can you give me a rough idea of the costs and sizes available?

 

Thanks for your insight.

[NancyB84]

We had to get permission from the company to get reprints elsewhere. I'm sure someone on here knows the specifics about it... I just remember trying to get cards made up one year at Wal Mart and having to jump through some hoops to get it done.

 

The photo's are kind of expensive (IMHO) but worth it, especially on formal nights!!!!

 

Nancy

[Globaliser]

The photo's are kind of expensive (IMHO) but worth it, especially on formal nights!!!!

They certainly are expensive, but they used to be worth it if they happened to take a good one that came out well. And the price is, in a sense, simply what you pay for only having to buy for the ones you want and getting the chance to reject all of the others without paying for them.

 

But recently, more and more ships seem to be going over to digital photos. And at the sizes of the prints that they offer, the reduction in quality is very marked. And I'm definitely not going to pay those sorts of prices for digital rubbish.

[pringle]

They certainly are expensive, but they used to be worth it if they happened to take a good one that came out well. And the price is, in a sense, simply what you pay for only having to buy for the ones you want and getting the chance to reject all of the others without paying for them.

 

But recently, more and more ships seem to be going over to digital photos. And at the sizes of the prints that they offer, the reduction in quality is very marked. And I'm definitely not going to pay those sorts of prices for digital rubbish.

Digital photos... I didn't even think of that. I suppose they give it to you in a CD? If that's the case, maybe I wouldn't need a release? I'm surprised at the marked difference in quality though as the digital technology now seems to be quite good.

[NancyB84]

They certainly are expensive, but they used to be worth it if they happened to take a good one that came out well.

 

On our last cruise, we only found 1 from the whole 11 nights that came out well, and we had tons taken! Certainly saved me some money!!!! I'm a picture freak and bought almost all that were taken on our first cruise. I think DH was happy that the picture quality was so poor this last time!!!!! ;)

 

Nancy

[Globaliser]

Digital photos... I didn't even think of that. I suppose they give it to you in a CD? If that's the case, maybe I wouldn't need a release? I'm surprised at the marked difference in quality though as the digital technology now seems to be quite good.

No, AFAIK you've never had access to the negatives or to the digital format. You only buy the prints.

 

Difference in quality? As I understand it, it's like this: A current consumer/pro digital SLR might do about 6 megapixels. A decent pro or semi-pro film (ie not the mass-market Kodak Gold sort of stuff) is the equivalent of about 40 megapixels.

[lvcruiser]

On our 10/23 NOS cruise, all the photographers were using digital cameras, so being able to buy the negatives may be out of the question since there may not be any depending upon the camera used. If you want to copy them for cards, why not do it yourself? Scan the pics into your computer and use a software program that will generate the card you want. There are many on the market that will do a sufficient job and many computers come with that type of software preloaded when you buy them.

 

The cost of the pictures has changed since our last cruise 18 months ago. On this cruise, 5x7's were $9.99 and 8x10's were $19.99. On our last cruise, the larger prints were $24.99, so they have come down in price, which stands to reason if they no longer have to process 35mm film. You can also purchase packaged sets.

 

The frequency and number of venues also changed from our last cruise. Prior, you would see the photographers set up only on formal nights, usually in three or four locations. On this cruise, they were set up almost every night, even on casual wear nights, in four or five venues. Also, you'll have your picture taken while boarding the ship on embarkation, and every time you get off the ship in the various ports. You will also have pictures taken at dinner at least two different evenings, once as couples or singles, and once as a table group so you can remember your table mates if they are worth remembering. If this is your first cruise on RCI, you will find yourself having plenty of opportunities to have your picture taken. You can spend a couple of hundred dollars on the pics they take if you care to. DW and I cut back this time on how many we bought since it was the second cruise on this ship, the backdrops they used this time looked terribly fake, and our tablemates were the kind you wanted to forget as soon as you got off the ship.

[madforcruising]

You won´t get any negatives or digital .jpg files.

You can get a copyright release form from their website.

 

[pringle]

lvcruiser, thanks for the prices and the detailed response. Ouch, the prices ARE high!

 

madforcruising, thanks for the website with the release form.

[wingnutphl]

I didn't know you had to get a release. I went to Ritz Camera and got copies made from a picture they had taken. They didn't really give me a hard time. Just asked me when it had been taken and shrugged their shoulders and then made the copies I requested. I'm guessing that was a big no-no on their part.

[knothead]

There are more than enough opportunities for photos! They usually are set up with as many as four different back drops every formal night and even some on casual nights.

 

Our photos do not have any markings on them so I would think you could have copies made. I had copies made at one of the Kodak machines after our 2001 cruise. They do have a release but it is good for only one photo remake! What good is that?

 

Photo costs: 8x10's $19.95 each , 4x6's $9.95, some times they have packages like an 4x8 plus a 4x8 post card for $16.95.

 

No you can't have the negitives, But they can run you copies of the photos while on the ship, unsure of cost for the copies

[Cruiser Forever]

They certainly are expensive, but they used to be worth it if they happened to take a good one that came out well.

 

On our last cruise, we only found 1 from the whole 11 nights that came out well, and we had tons taken! Certainly saved me some money!!!! I'm a picture freak and bought almost all that were taken on our first cruise. I think DH was happy that the picture quality was so poor this last time!!!!! ;)

 

Nancy

I love photographs and in my earlier cruises I would go bananas but now I've curbed my photo spending. DH is happy about that. :D

 

 

[DannyS]

I think they'll print holiday cards for you, you'd just have to tell them which picture to use, and of course, be willing to pay.

[BobbieSu]

So, do you HAVE to have your picture taken? Are there lines? Does it mean you should arrive early to dinner so you are able to get through the picture line? If you don't wish the picture taken do you just ignore the photographer and walk on by?

 

Su

[NancyB84]

You don't HAVE to have your picture taken. Boarding the ship there were two lines... one for people who wanted their pic and one for people who didn't. At dinner etc, you have to seek them out for the formal pics etc... no lines when we went. They have more than one backdrop.... just look around and find one that you like if you want your pic taken!!! Although, during dinner, they came and took pictures.... no one at our table declined but I am sure if you said "no" they would honor that. At each port when you get off the ship... just walk by them if you don't want it taken. The formal pics are nice, if they are done well. We had a hard time because there were 4 of us and we didn't have a single pic all week where everyone had their eyes open. We finally gave up trying and just walked by the pic opportunities at the end of the week.

Nancy

[Chicagomom]

We were on the October 30, 2004, sailing of the Enchantment and here was our experience. Like others have said, the 8 x 10 photos are $19.95. They had these for the formal night pictures taken in the centrum (several locations available with different back drops).

 

Most of the other pictures were 6 x 8 (a very hard size to find a frame for). These included pictures taken when we boarded and when we disembarked at ports, pictures taken at Dunn's River Falls and on the waverunners in Labadee, and pictures taken several nights in the dining room (sometimes with props like a pirate scalping you or something like that, and also on formal night). These were $9.95 each.

 

Another set was made up of 2-6 x 8 sheets--(1) 6 x 8 picture with a border that said Enchantment of the Seas and the date on it, and (2) 1-4 x 6 print and 2-2 1/2 x 3 1/2 prints of the same pose [without the border and words]. This set was $14.95.

 

It appeared only the prints were available--no negatives or CD. Apparently you can buy these prints for 6 weeks after your cruise by contacting http://www.image.com

[navel1ring]

If you go to image website & put in your sailing date & ship, you can download a release to have the photo's reproduced.

[SlightDraw]

Small tip. On formal nights go to two or three stations to get your pictures taken. You have a better shot at getting keepers. That said, you are probably wondering that could raise the cost of photos on board. You can see that RCI tosses out way more photos that they sell. Large photo sellers i.e. Kodak, Fugi, compete to have very large contracts with RCI to place there stuff on board. Print makers, chemistry, ink, paper etc. Say Kodak gets the contract. They place all the harware, machines, probably for nothing. A huge expense. All RCI purchases is the disposibles, at a huge discount considering the volume. So to have Kodak's name plastered all over the ship costs RCI very little. They still make money selling what they can and still justify tossing thousands of prints.

[jrm9999]

One good case for digital is that they swipe your card when taking the photos. If they get lost and you can't find them they now have a way to reprint them. This happened to us on AOS last June. Also, when the pictures were taken we looked on the screen the photographer had to know if we liked the shot or not, then made some adjustments.

 

As for the quality, if they are using the right equipment and configure it properly you should not be able to tell the difference, even at an 8 x 10 size. The only time you would see a difference is if the picture was blown up to a large poster size.

[megr1125]

We bought 4 pix..my mom & i were on our 1st cruise on AOS in Oct. We really hate having our pix taken anyway (iprefer to be on the business end of the camera.) we got our boarding shot, a couple port pix and 2 of pirate night in the dining room (they were goofy!!)

 

we AVOIDED the formal nite pix...honestly the lines were too long and they kind of blocked the entrance to the dining room. BUT the pix we saw of others looked pretty nice.

 

didn't notice quality issues. we spent maybe 40 bucks total, inclidng a folio thing for our "guesting" shot. the folio includes a shot of the ship which retails for about 10 bucks anyway so the 12.95 was a good deal. the ship pic is really pretty, kind of at dusk.

 

you can try to avoid the photogs but they are just doing their job.

 

the pix are hung up in the gallery.; go often as it gets crowded near the end of the cruise. i say buy at least 1 decent shot so you have a nice memory of your trip. maybe the vets will say otherwisem but i planned on getting the boarding photo regardless of whether or not it was good.

[bean bag]

the cruzline reaches into ur pocket grabs a wad and PULLS! :)

[MadCnty]

Also another poster made the suggestion of going to the gallery and collecting your photos and then putting them in a spot you would know where they all were. We did this last cruise and what a difference it made. No last minute hunting...

[viking30]

I actually was thinking the same thing- was hoping somehow to be able to get the digital image to use for Christmas cards - scanning in a print never comes out as well. I will just take along my digital camera and hope that we can get someone to take a really good picture of our family!

[navel1ring]

Just got back from picking up our holiday cards from Sam's Club. I took in the 8x10 I purchased from one of the formal nights along with the release I downloaded from the photography website. The cards came out great, 50 cards with our formal night picture & customized signature line came to $16.32. Dropped them off at around noon picked them up at 4 pm.

 

Wendy

[gerif]

I HATE having my photo taken! DH, OTOH, just loves it (and loves taking photos). Needless to say, this has made for some disagreements on a cruise. I'm willing to stand for ONE formal shot (even though it meant missing the captains reception and standing in line FOREVER on our last cruise), but that's it. Since we are traveling with DS, DIL and GS next May, I'm sure I'll have to submit to at least two family shots. A couple of years ago, the children requested a formal photo of us - I just scanned in the one we bought and printed it on nice Kodak paper - not quite the same quality but for free, good enough.